"It’s easier to talk online " - Searching for a more secure communication: a risk factor for problematic Internet use among insecure persons

Abstract

The new mode of interaction offered by Internet allows socially anxious people to be more comfortable and confident in online interactions compared with face-to-face interactions. People with insecure attachment experience anxiety in relationships. Online interactions, by reducing anxiety, could influence Internet use. Several studies point to the fact that insecure attachment, and particularly preoccupied attachment, is associated with problematic Internet Use (PIU). Because interacting on Internet may be perceived as safer, it may play a role in PIU.
The aim of the study is to better understand the link between insecure attachment and PIU, by examining the mediating role of searching a more secure communication.
Participants (non-clinical, N = 200) completed anonymous online self-report questionnaires: the Internet Motives Questionnaire, which measures reasons of Internet use, the Internet Addiction Test, which assesses level of Internet addiction and the Relationship Scale Questionnaire, which assesses adult attachment.
Results show a link between: 1) insecure attachment and level of Internet problematic use; 2) insecure attachment and Internet use to communicate more securely. The association between insecure attachment and Internet problematic use was mediated by Internet use to communicate more securely.
Insecure attachment is associated with PIU. Insecure people have poorer social skills than secure one. Searching for a more secure communication mediates the link between insecurity and problematic use of the Internet. Resorting to a less threatening environment to exchange may thus explain these insecure individuals' tendency to overuse the Internet.